Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Advanced Machariel Maintenance

There is no denying it: the Machariel is an exquisite, powerful
battleship. It's agility, design and ability to have capable fits make it a special choice for many capsuleers across the
great cluster of New Eden. In Highsec, this ship has an
additional, laughable role: freighter bumping.
Don't get me wrong, though. In a sandbox like EVE, you can fit your ship the way
you want, for the purpose of your choice.

Taishan Mandragoran in his Machariel at the Madirmilire gate in Niarja on 07/12/2013 19:54

Taishan Mandragoran is
one of the several freighter bumper alts belonging to the bot-aspirant,
multiboxing Talos gank fleet of Aedaric. I do appreciate the Highsec content that comes from the ganks, then why do I call them bot-aspirants?Aedaric's automated, robot-like behavior has become a danger of its own. The first sign of bot-aspirancy is basically confirmed by the obvious fact: multiboxing. Unlike a normal fleet where each member is controlled by a real player, a multiboxing fleet of Taloses is a disgusting sight, for they move, act and look in the same way, just like a multiboxing mining fleet.
Their standard Talos fit is also one that can make any ECM anti-ganker laugh.

See that remaining empty mid-slot? That, my friends, can result in a disaster for this fleet, since a single well-skilled Falcon can successfully jam about 7 of these Taloses without a problem. During one of our anti-ganking patrols, just the presence of our Scorpion on grid had caused the whole Talos fleet to cancel the gank just before landing on their target. They headed backwards, and left Local. One of my priorities in EVE is to make such capsuleers better gankers by giving them guidance, education and surprise magnetometry.When I had insisted in my forum thread that all Catalysts should have at least one ECCM module for a guaranteed gank, I had received, instead, a nice amount of ganker tears who (incorrectly) cried about fitting problems, CPU and Powergrid. Well, that false excuse doesn't really work in this case either.(Click here to see our official gank Talos fitting advice for Aedaric. Feel free to share your opinions as a comment.)As you can see, the elevated level of bot-aspirancy seen in this Talos fleet results in the lack of clever modules like ECCM. That module, if you think about it, is another way for gankers to express their ganking permits and their love for us. In this case though, we notice that this fleet fails to express a permit and their love for our Falcons.
What is more, another sign of bot-aspirant behavior appears in Local chat whenever this fleet engages a Freighter: some robot-like drivel gets spammed by Aedaric.[ 2013.12.08 17:50:08 ] Aedaric > ATTENTION: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTAedaric's Mobile Grief Center has serviced another lucky capsuleer. Please remain calm. For information regarding your safety, open a conversation.The odds are, in fact, not in your favor!

If you remember the bots in Jita, you'll easily notice their similarity to the above statement.
EVE is a game about consequences. Let's get to the consequences.Taishan Mandragoran was once
again monotonously cargo-scanning freighters that appeared on his
grid. This could be the most robot-like and boring role for a Machariel in whole New Eden.

One might think
that, what follows is another freighter ganking operation, including a price-check on EVEPraisal followed by bumping, and then providing warp-in for the Talos fleet which is supposed to gank the freighter. However, bot-aspirancy and spatial unawareness is not
acceptable, especially in a ship like the Machariel. As a result, Content Generators Alhan Gaya, Dekiranu, doomhearted, Votre Dieu,
FauztX, Megamaks T44, Capqom Solette, SERJANT UA, Artem Ice, Sobaka
Zlaya, Urgent Fury, Dmitry Kuvora and Geras Serliberated him from
this dangerous behavior.

If he had paid attention, he would notice that warp-in hugging his ship, as well as the Catalyst/Thrasher spike on D-Scan. Yet the
“mighty” Machariel was demolished within seconds. Angel Cartel
(designer of the ship) must have had a day of shame. Even the most
shiny Microwarpdrive will not save you if you don't pay attention.
It could be said that, a careful pilot who spams the Warp
button while losing his ship, can almost always escape with the
Capsule, thus avoid being podkilled. Taishan wasn't careful enough
though, and Content Generator FauztX delivered the additional punishment.

The
conditions of Highsec are the same for all, even for the gankers and
their alts: It is not 100% safe. Check D-Scan, Check Local at all
times.